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James O'Brien is asking it loudly now: Is Donald Trump mad? 02:16 A consensus is reached from three different corners of the commentariat. 03:52 James combs through Trump's appointments to try and find some sanity. 04:18 CORRECTION: The report James references is from the Atlantic, not the Washington Post. Kash Patel denies the accusations. 04:52 James O'Brien picks out some recent examples that lead him to question the President's sanity. 10:22 First time caller James goes back to Trump's video depicting the Obamas as monkeys as the turning point. 18:04 Caller Gay thinks we're at near-Jamestown levels now. 21:26 Caller Geraint puts it down to Trump's age, but James isn't quite convinced. 24:00 Caller Andre wants to bring a 'new theory' to the table, arguing that the President 'isn't mad at all'. 29:01 Caller Felicity believes that Trump is 'cornered' and this is what has precipitated this change in attitude and behaviour. 31:59 Caller Tom believes Trump is 'more evil than mad'. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #jamesobrien #politics #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
Mr. President, what are you doing up there
0:03
It's an extraordinary moment of liberation when you stop thinking that there's a master plan
0:10
or you stop thinking that Donald Trump is moments away from restoring normality
0:18
restoring a semblance of decency. When you stop thinking that the bad behavior is in aberration
0:24
and the status quo will be restored, it is a strange moment and in many ways despite having gone quite early on it compared to other
0:35
people in in my profession we still went quite late you know still thinking during the state
0:42
visit for example well maybe this will nudge him into a place where he stops being so mad where he
0:48
stops being so petulant he stops being so unhinged he stops being so erratic he stops being so
0:53
unpredictable maybe cozying up to him at the state visit i think this was keir starmer's calculation
0:58
will be enough to sort of shock him into decency. There were plenty of people still in the media
1:07
still using phrases like Trump derangement syndrome to describe those of us describing Trump's derangement
1:13
And there's something there for the PhD thesis writers of the future to look at
1:17
What on earth would possess someone commenting on current affairs to attack the people describing a mad president
1:23
instead of attacking the mad president? We're doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly, I would say
1:31
Somebody said, on a scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said about a 15
1:35
We went early on calling him deranged, on calling him mad. That's not a diagnosis
1:44
And even if it were, it's not one that I'm qualified to give. Over the course of the last few days, three men who are prominent contributors to public discourse in this country
1:58
three men have all arrived at the same conclusion. And it is interesting because they are very, very different men
2:08
And they speak from very, very different positions. You have a crazy Brexiter, the wrongest man in the world, Daniel Hannan
2:18
You have one of the finest journalists this country has produced in the last 50 years
2:24
Alan Rusbridger, former editor of The Guardian and Prospect magazine. And you have one of my favourite columnists
2:30
despite the fact that he sometimes writes things that I balk at
2:36
Matthew Parris in The Times, a former Conservative MP. from a wing of the Conservative Party that really, in its current guise, no longer exists
2:46
So three very, very different perspectives. These are the three headlines that have appeared in the last few days
2:53
Rosbridge are first. I was already worried about Trump's mental decline. It just got worse
2:59
Matthew Parrish in The Times. Trump is too deranged to continue in office
3:05
And then Daniel Hannan in The Washington Examiner. Donald Trump is losing his mind
3:11
So a consensus from three very, very different corners of commentary that Donald Trump is losing his mind or has lost his mind
3:22
that Donald Trump is mad. Not that Donald Trump is erratic or unpredictable or difficult to work with
3:29
but he is actively mad, as in there is no way of imposing comprehension upon his conduct
3:38
It makes no sense. It is mad. Donald Trump has gone mad
3:43
Surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor
3:52
Three of the most powerful men in the United States of America, one of them encountered a dead raccoon
3:58
got out of the car, cut its penis off and took it home. One of them likes to give sermons and claim that the US military acts according to God's will, which, of course, makes him a religious extremist of exactly the type that we are encouraged to detest in Iran
4:15
And one of them is, according to reports, I think in the Washington Post, off his nut
4:22
And they've all been put in position by Donald Trump before he was widely regarded to be mad
4:28
then you turn your attention to trump and i mean what would you even pick as evidence of escalation
4:35
because we have sat here now for a long time pointing out how hard it is to keep up
4:42
but something changed last week in the a new dimension emerged where it wasn't being overcome
4:50
and subsumed by the next big announcement. For me, the Jesus picture
4:56
that was a moment of almost unbelievable madness. I'm going to post a picture of myself portrayed as Jesus
5:07
The message that he posted about Iran using foul language and praising Allah
5:14
that seemed to me to be marks of a level of madness
5:19
not previously reached by Donald Trump. And then he turned upon his former cheerleaders
5:26
Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones, calling them in capital letters
5:30
nut jobs and losers with low IQ. These are the reasons why Daniel Hanan
5:39
Matthew Parris and Alan Rusbridger have all gone there. And it's a place they've gone to that even six months ago
5:45
I always felt a little bit uncomfortable about it. Not because of the mental health element
5:52
not because of being insensitive about mental health in general, but just because it felt, I don't know
5:58
it felt too big to do it. You can't accuse the president of being insane
6:03
You can't accuse the president of the United States of America of being mad. So about six months ago it felt too big
6:09
At the time, of course, the worst commentators in the world were describing people telling the truth
6:15
as having Trump derangement syndrome. I wonder if there was some projection there
6:19
Do you think maybe they could smell the madness in the wind, but they'd staked so much on Donald Trump
6:26
because they loved the racism so much and the misogyny, the sexism and the climate change denial
6:32
Do you think that kind of commentator just kind of knew things were going
6:37
I can't believe I've staked everything on him. He's mad. I know what I'll do
6:42
I'll accuse all the people calling him mad of being mad. Do you think there's a little bit of that going on
6:48
I don't know. I mean, I've heard people accuse critics of Donald Trump
6:54
of loving the Ayatollahs in Iran, as if you can't hold two thoughts in your head at the same time
7:00
So if you kind of, if you bet the lot, if you staked your entire reputation, such as it is
7:05
on Donald Trump being a good guy, because you love the racism, you love the sexism, and you love the climate change
7:10
then I'll drill, baby, drill. then when you begin to fear that he is actually mad he is all of the things that his critics
7:17
have been saying for ages then you have little choice but to accuse his critics of being mad
7:22
there is isn't there that's it it's dropped the penny that's what happened isn't it because it's
7:27
such a strange phrase to use trump derangement syndrome it happened with brexit of course
7:31
you back brexit so strongly that when the evidence emerges that all of the people condemning it were
7:40
right you have to attack them you can't argue with them anymore you can't have a debate anymore
7:44
so you have to attack them you have to question their mental health here are people calling donald
7:50
trump mad oh my god i think they're right no no you're mad you're the mad one you've got trump
7:55
derangement syndrome and you love the ayatollahs restaurants strike cleaners corner stores what is
8:01
a corner store i've never heard that term i know what a corner store is but i've never heard it
8:04
described a corner store who the hell wrote that the insanity of the most powerful political leader
8:10
in the world posting an AI image of himself dressed up as the son of God healing the sick
8:15
is impossible to convey we probably didn feel it land as heavily as it would do as it should do because it comes on the back of so many other transgressions and so many other aberrations
8:28
What was the diagnosis? It was, I mean, I think it was a terminal diagnosis
8:33
He would be dead by June. OK, that wasn't public, but yeah, OK
8:37
Rusbridger goes on, in most places the HR department would be looking at a twin-track policy of support and protection
8:43
A leader who behaved so aberrantly that it became routine for observers to suggest that they had lost their marbles
8:51
I mean, it's there. Eight million dollars for making mice transgender. What's happened this week, just in the last week, is it
9:02
We're talking about a week, the last ten days, that makes you think that the President of the United States of America has lost his mind
9:07
What is the collection of behaviours, circumstances, observations? For the first time, it feels to me that the flooding of the zone
9:18
the constant avalanche of awfulness has somehow failed. We are not sitting here thinking, oh, here he goes again
9:25
We're sitting here thinking something even worse than what went before has happened
9:32
Do you think that men should play in women's sports? I really don't have an opinion on that
9:38
You don't? I'll bet you do. No, no. I'm here about no tax on tips
9:43
What is it about the last week that has crystallised the thought in your mind
9:48
that Trump has lost the plot? And do we know enough about American politics to conclude
9:54
or to wonder what might happen next? It's a Simon Marks moment, really, isn't it
9:58
I think J.D. Vance would have to set the ball rolling, wouldn't he
10:04
you'd have to set the process in motion, but what is it that has made everybody come round
10:10
to be a bit self-referential for a moment to what we've been saying for ages
10:14
that Donald Trump is bonkers? James is in Dundee. James, what do you reckon
10:19
Hello, James. Hello, man. Love your show. First time caller. Welcome. James, I'd go all the way back
10:26
to when he started posting as the Obamas as animals and himself as an animal
10:31
The fact that that was unchecked. The Lion King, wasn't it? Exactly. And obviously, you know, a bit questionable posting the Obamas as monkeys
10:40
That's highly inappropriate. Well, I mean, obviously it is. Crikey, I don't want anyone to think I'm about to start arguing again
10:45
But if we accept, and I do absolutely 100% accept, that Trump's appeal lies in his racism, his misogyny and his climate change denial
10:56
that's the sort of holy trinity of things that people really like
11:00
whatever they may be prepared to publicly admit to, then you're not going to alienate anybody by doing a racism, are you
11:09
No, James, but I think when we start questioning his sanity more recently
11:13
as you've mentioned, it's the timings he's posting, the fact that the so-called leader of the free world
11:20
has unvetted access to social media. He's sitting up in bed posting schoolboy memes
11:26
and swearing at the Iranian nation, threatening to destroy their civilization. if those aren't alarm bells and i don't know what's our james no i i agree so it's almost as if
11:39
it's everything that has gone before dialed up the volume has been turned up and and the attempts to
11:45
excuse or explain it become ever harder to the point where they become pretty close to pointless
11:51
he has lost the plot now he's looked like a man losing the plot for for the longest time but he
11:56
now looks like a man who's lost the plot yes and james please i'm by no means an expert or a
12:01
politician but it seems like in his first term he was he was held far more to account whereas now
12:09
he's got a marco rubio a jd vance a p texas so this is chicken and egg this is chicken and egg
12:16
i think you make a brilliant point is that that narcissism goes on untrammeled and also he did
12:21
win. This is an important point. What does that do to your ego? You've
12:25
already got an overdeveloped ego or a weird ego and then you win
12:28
and people start treating you like you're Jesus. Not just on social
12:33
media but in the flipping oval office. Laying their hand. Maybe he started believing
12:37
the hype around him and it's finally tipped him over the edge. It's like the last
12:41
bit of the jigsaw is the sycophancy. How bizarre. Oh, that's the second big insight of the day
12:47
Peter Mandelson. The reason why he was a brilliant appointment is exactly the same reason
12:51
why he was an appalling appointment. And the final straw on the camel's back of Donald Trump's fantasy
12:59
is actually the sycophancy that he's surrounded himself with. That's what broke his brain
13:04
The final thing was the thing that he thought would protect him. I don't know. It's thinking out loud
13:09
Nice work, James. It's coming up to half past 11. You're listening to James O'Brien on LBC
13:13
Imagine, writes the world's wrongest man, Daniel Hannan, it was someone other than President Donald Trump
13:19
Suppose a different leader were posting deranged rants in the small hours
13:24
insulting the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics, threatening entire civilizations with annihilation
13:30
and comparing himself to God. What would be the reaction? That's not a rhetorical question
13:37
I want you to think about that as we head towards the headlines. If it was any other world leader
13:42
posting deranged rants in the small hours in which he insults the Pope
13:47
the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics. He threatens entire civilizations with annihilation
13:54
while swearing and conducting himself like a saloon bar drunk and compares himself to God before lying about it
14:03
What would the reaction be? I don't even know where to begin pondering the question
14:08
of what the world would do if Joe Biden had behaved like this. But you don't need to
14:14
I predict all of it. I predicted Osama bin Laden would knock out the world trade center
14:20
I made that prediction a year before he did. I said, you better get him. He's a bad guy
14:24
I watched him be interviewed one time, and I said, that's a bad guy
14:29
You better get him. Nathan writes, he's reached epic levels of ego and power
14:33
He's always been like this. Just look at the comments he's been making for decades
14:37
It's not madness. It's just him, which is arguably scarier. I disagree. I think something's happened in the last week
14:43
I think it could be what you identify, actually. There's something about the idea, if you're in a laboratory
14:50
and you've got a test tube that contains absolute power. You know that phrase, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely
15:02
And he has created an environment of absolute power. I don't know how much you can stomach of the Oval Office
15:08
or the public meetings where they all sit around telling him he's amazing
15:13
it's like something that you would associate with caligula or a particularly toxic roman emperor
15:21
you all sit around they all sit around telling him that he's amazing truly amazing not just like
15:28
telling him hey you're pretty good you're a pretty good president but they say you are probably the
15:32
finest human being that's ever lived you are you should leave your body to medical science because
15:37
you are physically extraordinary. I mean, they just pour this utter bilge into both of his ears
15:43
all the time. And it has done something to him? Is it the sycophancy he created in order to
15:51
insulate himself from criticism that has tipped him over the edge? Or is it something else
15:56
This is from Jim. The joke with the Japanese Prime Minister shows that he has lost all perspective
16:01
and any comprehension of right and wrong. That was an extraordinary moment
16:07
But, yeah, maybe it was actually a sign that he'd just lost that
16:12
So he'd behave outrageously, but always within some parameters. God, he's so shocking
16:19
He's so shocking, but I love him. And then he does some, so, you know
16:23
you're not going to get offended on the part of the Japanese people if you're a big Donald Trump fan
16:27
but then he went after the pope and pretended he was jesus he's lost the parameters the parameters
16:34
that used to used to marshal his madness or his depravity at least appear to have disappeared don they in the last few days uh mark goes down the dementia route I don think he has lost his mind James This is the sign of dementia Sundowning dementia is what we watching
16:52
My wife is a nurse, and this is what she sees daily. This is what a deteriorating dementia patient sounds like
17:00
in which case, of course, we are bound to show more sympathy towards him
17:05
during his decline than he has ever shown towards anybody, up to and including people who have died
17:11
after which, of course, he's announced himself delighted to see them go. Good morning, James writes, Lee
17:17
the evidence for the Mango Mussolini losing or having lost his mind has been building for a while
17:22
Don't forget the AI video he posted of himself defecating or dropping feces on the No Kings protesters
17:30
Again, this is the thing that I'm taking away so far. All of this is horrible behaviour
17:36
but you can see the base lapping it up. The racism, the misogyny, the climate change denial
17:41
It's always one, two or three of those things that excuse every single thing he does
17:48
But this shows he's lost his ability to know where that line is
17:52
He's attacking the Pope. He's lost his ability to know where that line is
17:58
And what's that about? Is that sundowning dementia? I don't know enough to answer the question
18:04
Gay's in Bath. Gay, what do you think? Well, I wish he'd read the book
18:08
if somebody's written it, how to bluff your way as to being a president
18:12
because if somebody has written it, he probably stopped after the first chapter
18:16
where it says you can just be as bossy and shout at everybody. But that's not mad, that's not lost mind, that's not derangement
18:22
We're looking at something different this week. I think he's just plain evil now, and I don't know if you saw
18:29
but my attention was drawn to one of his latest tweets or whatever
18:34
X-Post, which was when he was playing Frank Sinatra and My Way
18:39
And you think, my God, yeah. So Hitler killed himself in the end. And you think
18:44
but, you know, regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention. And is it
18:50
an awareness he has of his decline that he only sees one way out, like Jonestown
18:58
You know? Well, yeah, I mean, I think you've leapt a bit you've reached a bit there and i haven't seen the clip that you refer to but but
19:07
the the idea that his conduct in the last week has reached parts that previous conduct had not
19:13
reached well also he's almost getting a bit of a high on it because he's not been asleep at
19:18
meetings he's you know he's out there isn't he sitting up in the middle of the night posting
19:22
the weirdest things now on on social media also lying from through his teeth in a way he's always
19:28
done that but that's moved up a notch claiming that the pope thinks it's okay for iran to have
19:34
a nuclear weapon that's up there with accusing somebody criticizing donald trump of somehow
19:39
being a fan of the ayatollah it's a level of derangement that is almost impossible to believe
19:45
unless you've actually heard it um you could find out the pope's position on nuclear weapons in about
19:50
one second flat he doesn't think anyone should have them but to claim that he thinks it's okay
19:55
for Iran to have one is what happens, I suppose, if you're sitting up in bed at three o'clock in the morning
20:00
The Pope is weak on crime. He hasn't committed any, as far as I'm aware
20:04
unlike the President. And then you come to the fact that he went to watch an ultimate fighting championship pay-per-view fight
20:11
while his Vice President was trying to negotiate an end to the Iran War
20:15
along with his golfing buddy Steve Witkoff and his witless son-in-law Jared Kushner
20:20
I guess the thing I'm worrying about now, or the thing I'm wondering now, thank you, Gay
20:25
is are we watching a culmination or a collapse? Is it simply that all of the guardrails are now being removed
20:32
There's nobody there who can even say to him, I don't think you should go to the ultimate fighting championship pay-per-view
20:41
while JD is in Pakistan trying to negotiate peace with the Iranians
20:46
I just don't think you should go. There's nobody in the room who can even do that now
20:51
There's nobody, I mean, literally, if he had his flies on done, no one would tell him
20:55
He's in that kind of space. So is it a culmination or a collapse that we're seeing
20:59
Has he always been like this? But the guardrails of his own consciousness
21:04
and people around him putting limits on what he can and can't do
21:09
have been completely removed. So we are seeing an inevitable consequence of the ecosystem he's created
21:16
an ecosystem of denial, dishonesty, flattery and sycophancy. There you go. There's your question
21:22
It only took me 40 minutes to get there. collapse or culmination? Geraint is in Chester
21:27
Geraint, what do you reckon? Probably culmination. I mean, he's in his 80s now
21:33
so he's getting on a bit, and he's always been like this, like when he used to boast that he could shoot someone
21:38
and people would still vote for him. Yeah, but that was true. That wasn't mad
21:42
That was actually, that's why I used the phrase diabolical genius. And also Mick Jagger is in his 80s
21:49
So it's not, simply by dint of being in your 80s, you don't become all the things that Donald Trump is becoming or has become
21:55
Something has changed in the last week, and I'm trying to pin down what it is
21:59
I think in relation to the actual people that you've quoted or the journalists you've quoted, is that, to be frank
22:07
I'm going to be cynical here and say that because he was trying to mock
22:12
or trying to be clever with the Pope, well, his base is very Christian, hardcore Christian
22:19
and so they realised which way the wind is blowing with their audience
22:23
and so that's why they're now coming out with all this because, I mean, it was the same over here with guys like Farage
22:30
with the Iran war where he was like pro-war then he realised that his base were like, no, we're not pro-Iran war
22:38
so suddenly he's like flip-flopping. No, I mean, in the case of Farage, you're definitely right
22:42
and if a, and I use the word very loosely, but if a journalist like Richard Littlejohn were to suddenly start
22:47
questioning Donald Trump's sanity in a newspaper column. It absolutely would be out of cowardice, querulousness, dishonesty and cowardice
22:57
But these three, I chose them quite carefully. I mean, Hanan is mad, but even a stop clock is right twice a day
23:03
He's not doing this because he's worried about repercussions. And Rusbridger and Matthew Parris are two of the most reliable thinkers in the British media
23:11
They do not toe lines because they manage to upset different bunches of people
23:16
depending on what they're writing about. So that's why I was struck by... I mean, your observation holds true for an awful lot of people
23:22
who do what they do for a living, but not actually for these three
23:25
That's why I found it so interesting. That's why I found the juxtaposition so interesting
23:30
that they all arrived at the same conclusion at more or less the same time because it speaks not to calculations on their part, but to observations
23:36
Something in the last week has changed, and it's best expressed through events
23:42
the attack upon the Pope, the comparison of himself to Jesus, and the extraordinary posts praising Allah
23:48
while threatening to destroy the Iranian civilization. Something snapped. I want to know what it is
23:54
And I want to know whether it's a culmination or a collapse. Thank you, Garen
23:59
Andre's in Cambridge. Andre, what do you reckon? Right, I wanted to present you with a new theory
24:05
Something that I've had as a theory for a while. So my theory is that Trump's not mad at all. Right
24:12
I think that... Could you imagine a scenario, a theoretical scenario, where he brought the guys from Cambridge ytica
24:19
that helped him in his first campaign into the CIA, and then he gave them all the resources of Anthropic, etc.
24:28
and he's actually using their tactics to grow his base. But he's hemorrhaging support at the moment. He's not growing his base
24:38
It certainly appears like that because he's getting desperate and he's making a few mistakes
24:43
but I still think that there's some... No, this is an ysis of the last week
24:49
It's not an ysis of the bigger picture or the theory that you think underpins it all
24:55
In the last week, something has snapped. Yeah, something has snapped. I think that perhaps he's taken advice
25:02
and it hasn worked out and he getting a bit desperate for sure He not taking advice from anyone That the point It looks like his administration around him but I sure there other forces behind this
25:13
He's game. I mean, he's crazy. There's no two ways about it
25:17
but I think there's more to it. I do believe I'll be the honour of having the honour of taking Cuba
25:25
I think it was the Washington Post that reported this weekend on efforts to keep him out of the room
25:31
when they were discussing the rescue of that downed US airman because of his, to put it politely
25:38
because he's so erratic and unreliable. But the military top brass wanted to keep him out of the room
25:42
where they were discussing it. And in order to show him that the war is going well
25:47
they just show him pictures of things blowing up. It's as if they're managing him in one way, but not in another
25:54
It's as if you have a toddler who is actually in charge
26:00
Do you see what I mean? So if you've got a toddler that is prone to tantrums, then appeasement or mollifying or letting him live on Spangles or Haribo or whatever it may be means you have an easier life
26:13
But the toddler is actually in charge. It's not just the question of keeping the tantrums to a minimum
26:22
The toddler is in charge. The toddler can fire you. The toddler can appoint the Secretary of State for war
26:29
so you can manage the tantrum up to a point you can manage the personality defects up to a point
26:38
you can think that bending the knee sycophancy giving him presents it is it's a toddler isn't
26:44
it but with the with the big big difference that you're not just trying to avoid tantrums that's
26:47
the only bit you can control let's give him some presents let's give him a peace prize
26:52
let's um let's let's compare him to jesus let's just keep him sweet because we're worried about
26:59
what he will do when he's not sweet but you know he's not going to be sweet all the time
27:03
and that's why the worst stuff now is happening in the middle of the night
27:07
ah it's happening in the middle of the night because there's nobody there giving him presents
27:12
so he's sitting all on his own because melania doesn't go anywhere near him and frankly who can
27:18
blame her but he's sitting all on his own in the middle of the night with his phone doesn't have
27:22
the look of a man who's getting much rem sleep and there's nobody in his bedroom saying oh have
27:28
another prize or you're the best so you keep him sweet as long as you keep him amped up on haribo
27:36
and haribo takes many forms it can be the fifa peace prize um it could be the um agreeing with
27:45
his lies about stopping wars or being incredible being a very stable genie you're the best you're
27:50
the greatest and he posts that of course when he needs even more adulation and vindication
27:56
he'll post I'm the best I'm the greatest everybody says so and no one can be bothered really to
28:02
disagree with him I doubt he reads replies and then he surrounds himself with people who keep
28:06
telling him he's incredible he's amazing you're the best hook your lease hook your lease but in
28:11
the middle of the night anybody else get a little bit of Billy Joel there at that point in the
28:16
in the middle in the middle of the night when he's all on his own and there's nobody there
28:22
giving him a biscuit or telling him he's great or inventing a peace prize or giving him some
28:27
baubles or a medal or a present or a big kind of plaudit, that's when the truth, that's when the
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real him comes, that's when the stuff they're trying to keep under wraps comes kicking and
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screaming to the surface and he attacks the Pope and he compares himself to Jesus and he accuses
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and he threatens to destroy the entire civilization of Iran. That's it, isn't it? That's the middle
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of the night. So, is it a collapse or a culmination? Felicity's in Sidmouth. Felicity
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what would you like to say? Hi there, James. I'd like to say
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that, I mean, whether he's mad or not, I think he is personally, but I can't
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prove that. But it's the fact that he's cornered now. I mean, everything
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he said that he would do, like, in and out, quick war, get the
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oil back, the economy would be great. Everything's going the opposite direction, and people are really starting
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to feel it, and even he can't be hidden from that anymore. You think? Because I mean he's been getting away with
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that forever. You know, two weeks, two weeks, we'll fix it in two weeks. And then, you know
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10 weeks later, nothing's happened. We've won this, we've won that, the strait is up
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And his entire presidency, his entire life has been typified by deceit and distraction
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Why is it different now? Because the war is on a whole different level
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Yes, because he always believed, he was probably told by the people around him
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because they're all sycophants, that it would be a quick one and they would win
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and Iran would buckle. And, of course, that's not happened. I don't think he was, actually
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I think he was told about the Strait of Hormuz, but he just thought he'd be able to style it out. Yeah, because he had a few friends around
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There's a Gary Larson cartoon. Do you know The Far Side? Do you know those cartoons, The Far Side
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I think so. Go ahead. There's one from 40 years ago that cites the Strait of Hormuz
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I know there were difficulties in the Strait of Hormuz 40 years ago, but there's a Gary Larson cartoon that says
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the love boat has accidentally made its way into the Strait of Hormuz. So everybody knew that this would be in the arsenal of the Iranian regime
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except he just thought that it would all be done and dusted in the same way that Venezuela was
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And there's nobody in the room to tell him not true. Exactly, because he believes in the American might
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and that, you know, they've got the better planes, they've got more money, and they think that he thought that was enough alone
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and of course it's not. Yeah, I mean, we're getting chicken and egg, aren't we here
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We don't know whether something particular has happened that explains the latest aberrations
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or whether it is almost a step-by-step process by which the worst thing you can do if you're Donald Trump
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is surround yourself with sycophants because it will tip you over the edge
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and that is why the worst stuff is happening when he's in bed on his own and the sycophants aren't there
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to keep him under control. Kudos to David, who may have been the only person
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to spot my nutty professor reference a moment ago. Hercules, Hercules, did James just quote the nutty professor
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when discussing the president? Indeed he did, David, and as you say, that makes sense, actually
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And on a more serious note, this from S, we need a discussion on dementia, James
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My dad used to hand-deliver political leaflets in his 80s and believed he would become prime minister
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Trump is now a medical discussion. yeah but why why now and not five years ago when he was telling us to drink bleach or that light
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could cure covid do you see what i mean there's there's something's changed i'm not quite sure
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what it is felicity thank you tom's in glasgow tom what would you like to say james well i've
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wanted to have a chat with you for a while on various different topics but it was donald trump
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that finally pushed me over the edge so you and me both so there's a few different things i hope i
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can keep my train of thought for these i think first of all the whole topic of discussing whether
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or not donald trump is mad is a fun thought experiment to do but we don't have the clinical
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information and we're not going to have it to be able to actually say if he is mad or not i think
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the conversation in the top the comments from certain people talking about signs of dementia
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is something that's interesting to look into but i think my view would tend towards being that this
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is a culmination and um i also think as well in a way the question of his mental health and the fact
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that he essentially blocks anybody from getting information about the state of his health you know
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or he gets some shonky health report that says oh his health is unbelievably amazing but you know
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i think you can fit all of that in a way to everything else to do with misconduct whether
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it's taxes whether it's finances in general whether it's hiding or destroying information
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whether it's sexual misconduct he will always do it seems whatever he can to block that information
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getting out that doesn't prove that he has mental health problems but it fits within this pattern of
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behavior that he's constantly trying to block everything from getting getting out and so yeah
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i actually in line with what one of your recent callers said and i've been thinking this for a
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while i feel more confident in saying that i think that donald trump is evil than i do in saying that
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he's mad
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